Monday, September 22, 2008

Aeriskitchen's Korean Stuffed Peppers

Here is the video that goes along with the previous post. Doesn't she have a cute voice?

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Korean Chile Rellenos

Chile Rellenos (Chiles en Nogada specifically) is one of my very favorite foods. I didn't know Koreans have their own version. This is from Aeri's Kitchen. I enjoy her videos on Youtube because they are short and to the point but enjoyable as well. She has a pleasant speaking voice and I like the way she has made some where she narrates and some with music.

I was going to post the recipe, but you really have to go to her post to see how to make them. If she makes a video about how to do it, I'll post it.

Chocolate Truffles from Leftover Cake

Su Yin of Journal of a Girl who Loves to Cook just did a post about how to use cake scraps. It sounds delicious. Here's her recipe;

5 cups cake crumbs (preferably chocolate)
1/2 cup cream
100gms dark/bittersweet chocolate (chopped into large chunks)
1 tbsp instant coffee(opt)

"Heat the cream in a microwavable bowl for 60 seconds or more. Throw in the chocolate chunks and stir till you create an even mixture. Pour this into the cake crumbs and mix about to it create a sticky dough-like paste. Refrigerate it till its workable. Mould them into tiny bite sized pieces and coat with coating chocolate/tempered couverture of your choice.
Leave them to dry on a parchment or even skewer them to make pops. It's really up to you.
"

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Insult to Injury for the Astros (Off Topic)

Puddleglum is so outraged by a sports decision, I decided to let him post his fumes here.
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Houston has been damaged by high winds and rain from Ike, so the home game that the Astros were supposed to play against the Chicago Cubs had to be moved. There has been a longstanding bitter rivalry between the Cubs and Astros for years.

I was disappointed and surprised when the Commissioner of major league baseball, Bud Selig, decided that the game should be played in Milwaukee. He used to be the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers years ago and remains a faithful Brewers fan (born and raised in Milwaukee). Milwaukee is maybe an hour and a half bus ride from Chicago. The Astros players had to take a 4am flight to get there. All those ratty Cubs fans didn't have far to travel. This game was supposed to be a home game for the Astros. So much for home field advantage.

There are several things that stink here. One is that the game could easily have been played in Texas. One possibility was Round Rock where the Astros' triple A team plays. Another possibility was Arlington. Why move it to Milwaukee which is so close to Chicago? Here's why. The Houston Astros and the Milwaukee Brewers are both fighting for a wild card spot. So if you take away the Astros home field advantage, throw in a bunch of mouthy Cubs fans, and then have some Brewers fans show up for good measure, the Cubs could reduce the chance that the Astros will get a wildcard spot.

It was a Cubs shutout five zip and a no hitter to boot. Houston is still recovering from a weather disaster with many people still without power. The compassion shown by Bud Selig is pathetic, and this from a man who makes 14.5 million a year and whose contract with the MLB doesn't expire until 2012. Who is going to challenge this gazillionaire? Sorry Astros. This Bud's not for you...

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Dukbokki and Kimchi Jigae

I made my own version of dukbokki today. I used the instructional video on Youtube made by Maangchi, but the sauce was more like the sauce made by aeriskitchen when she made ddeokggochi (skewered sticky rice cakes). I made the anchovy stock like Maangchi does, but then after that I added all the extra stuff that aeriskitchen put in her sauce. The last time I made dukbokki it was a simple sauce (anchovy stock, sugar, and kochujang), and it still tasted good. I think it is better with the extra ingredients though, and the crushed peanuts really added an extra layer of flavor and texture. If you have the time, it is worth the extra effort, but if you don't have the time, the simple way is still really good. My boys wouldn't even try it because the smell of the anchovies when I made the stock grossed them out.

I also made my own version of kimchi jigae a few weeks ago. I didn't use pork belly because I didn't have any. I had some bacon drippings in the fridge, so I used that instead. I also did not have tofu, so I added some egg for the protein. I used the recipe that Maangchi put on youtube of her kimchi chigae, but I used aeriskitchen's video of Korean Kimchi Ramon for the instructions on how to add the egg. She breaks the egg into the soup but does not break the egg up until the white has cooked, and then she uses a chopstick to break up the yolk. That worked well. I thought it was delicious. My boys really liked this!

I found these pictures of some ways to add protein to dukbokki. The first picture has octopus, and the second one has boiled eggs.